A good land, the right climate, science and hardwork built Davao's  flagship industry

by Eli Racho Lamsen, Jr.

              The Bagobos of old strongly believed in Manama, the Creator of everything Who has no beginning and no end, far-seeing, all-knowing, could see and hear from any distance at anytime past, present and future. It was said that  a mabalian or Bagobo medicine woman was told by Manama through His first creation, the Pahumaong na Diwata, that He will forever keep the land fertile, the winds gentle, the sun bright and the rains just right.

            That land is no other than what is now called the Davao Region, the center of the country's "banana republic" as envisioned in the 60s by the late Senator Benigno Aquino and where "the sweetest Cavendish bananas in the world are grown" as described by Dutch plant-breeder EastBest Ltd.

            "Being able to meet the most stringent standards of fruit quality in the world is no mean feat and it says a lot of our banana industry," said Anthony Sasin, the spokesperson of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) citing the industry's commanding hold of the very discriminating Japanese market which is a  whooping 90%.

            Sasin said that banana is one high-value crop that is distinctively suited to our typhoon-free climate and sandy loam soil but, like any agricultureal endeavor, growing it is a constant struggle against pests and microbes where ambivalence and lack of capital can mean total loss.

            "Davao's banana industry is a showcase for science-based and precision agriculture," said Dr. Calixto Protacio, PH.D and professor in horticulture at UP Los Banos noting the very high level of productivity it achieved through careful plant-breeding, scientific planting and fertilization practices, diligent crop-protection methods and full mastery of the bananas' post-harvest physiology.

            Ecuador is still the biggest producer in the world in terms of volume but, slowly and surely, is being  outproduced in terms of yield per hectare by Davao banana growers. For example, the Tagum Development Corporation (TADECO) , the pioneering banana enterprise in the country now harvests a record-breaking  average of 67.5 tons of high-quality bananas per hectare compared to  Ecuador's average yield of 47.2 tons per hectare.

            TADECO contributes an estimated 13% of the region's total output of 3.2 million metric tons for the world market last year  which brought in for the country much-needed export earnings of $720-million. It also boosted the region's  highly favorable balance of trade which posted an aggregate receipt of $456.11 million despite sharp increases in imports. Economic analysts say that the trend will continue with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's recent lifting of the limits on hectarage for export banana and barring unfavorable circumstances that will negate the industry's productivity.

            It took the industry fifty-five years to be at par with the world's best and did it without any preferential treatment from government other than their own resources, the  sweat of its loyal workforce and, as Sasin sees it, "the usual Filipino hardheadedness of not stopping when the going gets rough."

            PBGEA president Stephen Antig often waxes emotional recalling the hardship, heartaches and the headaches that the industry went through when it was just starting and has yet to find its niche in the world market. He saw plantations wilting just after flowering and eventually wiped-out because of diseases.  He said that the instances were not few when buyers rejected their products for not meeting quality requirements or of several thousand boxes of shipment dumped in the high seas because of premature ripening due to fungal infestation. He also remembers the pitiful conditions of many a backwater farmlands in the region mostly of agrarian reform beneficiaries left without access to credit facilities and appropriate technology.

            "The end of the logging boom left thousands of logged-over areas and lands degraded by erosion and swidden-farming plus thousands of unemployed rural residents," said Antig. He said that the menfolk left towns and villages for greener pastures elsewhere while young boys and girls find work downtown as menial helpers. Davao's countryside can be described as anything except progressive, livable and lively. They were fertile grounds only for insurgency.

            Antig said that the banana industry changed all that. It utilises barely 4% of the country's agricultural land but is now the second biggest dollar-earner  generating  an estimated  PHP1.4-billion in taxes annually to host cities and municipalities on top of an estimated aggregate monthly payroll of another PHP1.9-billion to some 100,000 workers directly employed by the industry and another 200,000 in various sectors servicing the industry such as  banking and finance, retail stores, catering, freight and trucking, port services and entertainment.

            No other region in Mindanao now has a more vibrant economy than Davao  where six five-star malls cater to less than a half-million households. Enrollment in colleges and universities is at an all-time high. Topnotch healthcare facilities are within easy reach. Motor vehicles fill the streets where traffic is regulated by  state-of-the-art computerized systems. Leisure parks dot the highlands. The sprawl of the region's urban centers is fast changing the landscape of once-remote villages as mass housing projects and high-end residential subdivisions gobble land. Nobody is complaining and, despite some grumblings, there is no stopping the momentum of the region's progress.

            Thanks to its flagship industry, the banana business, which also made resources available for enhancing the integrity of the environment. It helped establish a marine sanctuary at Davao gulf, preserved a 70-hectare virgin forest where indigenous wildlife such as deers, boars and monkeys roam free. A consortia of industry foundations have been greening the countryside for years and as of last count last week, have planted close to a million trees. Their corps of community development workers assist villagers put-up and manage a wide range of livelihood projects and self-help activities like vegetable farming, banana chip-making, day-care centers, cooperative stores, skills training, water systems or primary health care programs.

            Since its inception in 1976, the PBGEA, through its  Banana Export Industry Foundation (BEIF), is sending to the best schools in the region the most talented sons and daughters of employees and workers. It's roster of scholars now numbers 392 high school students and 27 college students. Not a few graduates had taken positions of responsibility in various banana companies.

            Mrs. Illuminada de Guzman, a seventy three-year-old banana grower in Tamayong, Calinan sums it up: "The banana industry  brought us prosperity. It is the crutch that gives us dignity and helps us to stand with our heads held high."

            Her story is typical of the area's oldtimers. She and her husband migrated from Cebu to try their luck in Mindanao, endured poverty and hardship trying to eke out a living as corn farmers until they  acquired additional land, planted bananas and, by sheer persistence and hardwork, sent all six children through college. Most of them are now professionals. The eldest daughter now works as a nurse in Michigan, USA while another daughter is a caregiver in the United Kingdom.

            For Mrs. de Guzman and the rest of the first-generation banana growers of Calinan, helping build the industry was the best learning experience of their lives.

            "It inculcated in us the values of diligence and trustworthiness and a deeper appreciation of of God's love for mankind," said Dalhug while enjoying the bright orange hues of the sun as it sets behind the towering peak of beautiful Mt. Talomo.   

            For the 60,000-strong Bagobos, the prosperity of the land is undeniable proof of their Almighty Manama's unending fulfillment of a promise. 

 

    

 

Aerial spray ban could displace workers                   Philippine Daily Inquirer                     

 

April 12, 2009

 

SAFE advocacy launched in Tagum April 3

The new coalition members at their inaugural meeting. 

            Independent banana growers in Davao Region committed themselves to science-based agriculture during a forum held in Tagum City, Davao del Norte last April 3 where Science-based Agriculture for Farm Enhancement (SAFE) was launched.

            SAFE is a way of thinking about how to scientifically farm the land with more  cost-efficient methods and most productive results even as continuing research and discoveries guide the world to even much better, safer and more beneficial technologies.

            Mr. Faustino Salting led the coalition and said that what is needed now to address the issue of food security and limited resources is to utilize the benefits of science and technology in increasing the yield of food that is safe.

             “Science-based agriculture is an international practice of producing safe and affordable produce efficiently year-round, with the help of products and practices that enhance the productivity and performance of farms while maintaining the quality of the product until it reaches the consumer and at the same time ensuring ecological balance and sustainability” SAFE said.

            The forum, organized by Initiative for Farm Advocacy and Resource Management (IFARM), CropLife Philippines and Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), was supported by the Davao del Norte provincial government.

            Salting leads a group of approximately 3,000 banana growers along while Jose Daigdigan Sr. is at the helm of a network of 100 farmer-growers. The coalition has assigned Betty Francia to act as secretary.

            Bobby Ramos, Juliet Ariete, Engr. Cicero G. Tiamzon, Dominador Encarnacion and Edmund Marcelo also backed SAFE.

            Tiamzon is a Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO) while Encarnacion is the provincial agriculturist of Davao del Norte.

            Salting stressed that the coalition believes that farmers must opt for sustainable agriculture, and all farming activities today must ensure “the ability of future generations to likewise produce and enjoy a sustaining environment.”

            He added: “Agriculture, in order to be sustainable, must be economically viable and socially acceptable and must exhibit concern for the environment and the general health of the community.”

             The coalition urged local government units (LGUs) to inspect and enforce laws relevant to the safe practice of agriculture even as it urged producers and stakeholders, including growers, exporters and marketers to police their ranks and stick to GAP guidelines.

             It also asked the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA) to perform its regulatory functions strictly enforce the law on farm inputs, and ensure that such inputs conform with GAP guidelines.

            Moreover, the coalition resolved to propagate scientific information among farmers in order for them to know completely the advantages of SAFE while building partnerships and networks to enhance the practice of science-based agriculture. (iFARM)

 

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March 15, 2009  

Pinoy experts can compete in biotechnology, UP Mindanao professor claims

             A UP Mindanao professor  urged government to revolutionize its policy on biotechnology and support scientists doing work on parlaying local biological research to promote genetically improved crops in situ and thus compete or even beat their colleagues in the US, Canada, Singapore, China and Vietnam.

            Dr. Eufemio Rasco Jr  issued this call in his recently launched book, "The Unfolding Gene Revolution," shattering myths that biotechnology can only be the domain of rich countries and proposing that government invest more funds in research and development (R&D) to develop distinctly Filipino agricultural biotechnology products appropriate for the country's soil, climate and even palate.

            He spoke during a recent forum at the UP Mindanao campus in Davao City sponsored by the Initiative for Farm and Resource Management (IFARM) and CropLife Philippines and argued for stronger support to biotechnology research on indigenous materials.

Rasco, who specialized in plant breeding while studying at the University of the Philippines in Los Banos (UPLB), maintains that the country must free itself from the ideological straitjacket that biotechnology per se is evil as it meddles with nature and interferes with the work of the divine.

            He slammed the anti-biotechnology lobby as contributing to the backwardness of agriculture and the scientific enterprise in the country.

            "The antibiotech movement has only succeeded in scaring small companies from investing in biotechnology and some small governments from investing in biotechnology. They have unwittingly (or wittingly?) contributed to the creation of a monopoly of biotech business,” Rasco lamented.

            Moreover, he said the Philippine government has been saddled by a clash at the level of policymakers, with one wing comprised of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) clashing with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

            This, despite the official pro-biotechnology slant of the executive department, Rasco added.

            In calling for sustained support for research and development (R&D), Rasco recalled the cases of Vietnam, which sent students to learn the ropes of biotechnology at UP Los Banos in the 1970s, the same decade when UPLB established its institute on biotechnology.

            Today, Rasco lamented, Vietnam operates three different units on the life sciences, with its cadre of experts first trained on the rudiments of biotechnology in the Philippines and later deployed to the US and England for postgraduate work.

            Similarly, the UP professor explained, tiny Singapore organized its biotechnology unit only in 1987 and recruited experts overseas.

            Today, Singapore, with a population only a third of Davao City's, has been recognized for its work on the puffer fish genome that led to the discovery of 1,000 putative human genes. (iFARM)

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March 11, 2009

Banana growers say aerial spraying is safe

       The head of the technical committee of the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), has assured farmers and environmental advocates that aerial spraying of fungicides in the vast banana plantations of Mindanao is safe.

       Dr. Emily Fabregar made this assurance late last month when she presented a paper on "Global Positioning System: A New Technology for Farm Application," during the foundation celebration of the University of the Philippines in Mindanao (UP-Min) in Davao City.

       She joined a panel of experts in the lecture forum spearheaded by CropLife Phillippines and the Initiative for Farm Advocacy and Resource Management (iFARM) on February 25, 2009.

        Dr. Eufemio Tan Rasco Jr.’s book “The Unfolding Gene Revolution” recognized as the NAST “Outstanding Book of the Year 2008,” was also presented during the forum at the UP-Min's College of Science and Mathematics.

         Dr. Fabregar said the use of GPS has greatly reduced the risk to humans since the system automatically shuts of spraying equipment when it leaves the target area.

         Aerial spraying had been banned in Davao City based on an ordinance that the Court of Appeals (CA) later determined to be unconstitutional.

         Fabegar said the “intelligent spraying” systems employed by PBGEA are also controlled via GPS.

         The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) requires 50-meter defaults along the area perimeters of the plantations to be sprayed.

         Showing a video clip of an actual aerial spray run by a PBGEA fixed-wing plane, the cut-off mechanism clearly showed that the misty spray stopped before reaching the boundaries (identified by a river in the clip) with enough room to spare. This should allay concerns expressed by some quarters regarding off-target spraying in banana plantations.

         Dr. Fabregar emphasized that such GPS-controlled mechanisms are now employed in all banana plantation spray runs since it reduces the volume of fungicide used. GPS allows no room for pilot error that may cause drift or off-target spraying.

         The fungicides are sprayed on banana plants to prevent a fungus called sigatoka from spreading. This fungus attacks banana leaves and causes premature ripening and freckles on the fruits. With premature ripening and freckles, bananas cannot pass export quality control.

          Aerial spraying is considered the most cost-efficient method for addressing the sigatoka fungus problem. 

          Dr. Rasco said in a previous forum on science-based agriculture conducted in January at the Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City that the most cost-effective solution to the sigatoka problem was aerial spraying.

          He stressed it was funny that the ban was imposed on the solution to the problem besetting the banana industry.  

          Dr. Fabregar also said the fungicide used in the aerial spraying was diluted with water in the spraying solution to be even less potent than over-the-counter anti-dandruff shampoos that are sold everywhere and used even by children. A common cause of dandruff is a fungus like sigatoka.

          As an early result of the initial ban on aerial spraying in Davao City, Lapanday has closed its Mandug Farm, a banana plantation within the city. More than 150 hectares of a previously viable and productive banana farm has been lost due to an ordinance that was enacted rather precipitately, according to critics.

          IFARM has been calling for a science-based agriculture that pays a premium on risk assessment and management.

           It also backs the use of safe and responsible use of all farm inputs, particularly those used in protecting cash crops for both domestic and foreign markets. (iFARM)

 

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 March 3, 2009

Top FPA official renews call for use of inputs that raise aggie yield, protect environment

 

          Dr. Dario C. Sabularse, deputy executive director of the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), has reiterated his agency’s commitment to fulfill its two-pronged duty to protect the environment while ensuring that farmers produce more crops for the domestic market.

          Sabularse stressed this when he addressed hundreds of participants in the science forum at the University of Mindanao (UP-Min) campus in Davao City last February 25 that was organized by the Initiative for Farm Advocacy and Resource Management (iFARM) and Croplife Philippines.

          The FPA official said the agency was organized on May 30, 1977 under Presidential Decree No. 1144 precisely to raise farm profitability through the sustained and proper use of inputs like fertilizers and pesticides.

          Sabularse stressed the FPA’s charter empowers it to exercise regulatory functions and noted that a careful reading of its of mandate would show it could also monitor inordinate changes in the prices of inputs and sanctions dealers and traders that jack up their prices.

          The same directive also authorized the agency to take charge in promoting the proper use of pesticides since misuse of the same could present serious risks to users, consumers and even the environment.

          PD 1144 empowered FPA to regulate fertilizers and pesticides from their importation, formulation, distribution, storage, use and disposal.

          Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap chairs the FPA’s board of directors.

          Sabularse noted that in many instances, the improper use of pesticides, particularly in the banana industry, has caused undesirable effects.

          He expressed the view that the correct ratio of the pesticide should be followed to achieve the best results, whether the introduction of pesticides is done through aerial or manual spraying.

          The top FPA official explained that criticisms against the use of aerial spraying should be addressed to the agency since it is empowered by law and mandated by the DA to exercise regulatory functions as far as the use of inputs is concerned.

          Sabularse explained that banana plantations are large and the most viable way to introduce pesticides is through aerial spraying and corporations are obliged to follow the rules covering the application of pesticides in this manner.

          Banana plantations have been mired in a prolonged battle with the fungal sigatoka disease and this has necessitated the application of fungicides through aerial spraying, which the Davao City Council had banned.

          The Court of Appeals (CA) scrapped the ordinance and the Davao City Council has said it would appeal the decision.

          Sabularse stressed that there should be a scientific basis to any such ban and explained the FPA would only be too willing to consider the criticisms aired by the council and its supporters.

          As it is, he said, the FPA is vested with the power to check how aerial spraying is being done and how the solution used was made.  (iFARM)

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March 1, 2009

Plant expert calls on DA to improve
mango-production system
To maximize export potential of dollar-earning fruit
 

LEADING  plant expert Dr. Calixto M. Protacio says the country can raise its mango output by cultivating new varieties and planting smaller trees in 184,174 hectares of mango stands nationwide.

     Dr. Protacio made the proposal in a lecture delivered last February 25 at a forum organized by the Initiative for Farm Advocacy and Resource Management (IFARM) and Croplife Philippines at the UP Mindanao campus in Davao City .

      The expert stressed that with the massive planting of smaller mango trees with higher yields and better fruit quality, the country stands a good chance of narrowing the gap between the country’s output and that of Mexico , the world’s top mango exporter.

      Dr. Protacio stressed that the country must also develop its food processing capability, noting that 90 percent of mango exports comes in the form of fresh fruits.

      Thus far, the country has not yet been certified as conforming to the standards of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), which is now a requirement of many importing countries.

      Pointing out the disadvantages of large mango trees, Dr. Protacio said plantation workers are more likely to be injured in harvesting the fruits and spraying the leaves with a solution to protect the fruits from insects and pests.

     “Big tree sizes constrain mango growers from implementing good agricultural practices,” he noted.

     GAP, Dr. Protacio explained, covers the “collection of principles for on-farm production and post production process for safe and healthy food and non-food agricultural products considering economic, social and environmental sustainability.”

      Any country that deals in food products and non-food agricultural commodities internationally are now required to possess GAP certification.

      The European Union (EU) a stickler for GAP and no country can penetrate its member-nations unless they have certification.

       For crop protection alone, big mango trees present workers with daunting tasks, getting wet when they spray the trees with solutions and making fruit bagging even more laborious.

       They have to face risks when pruning the branches and are most likely to sustain latex burns and stain the fruits 30 seconds after picking the fruits, as a study in 2004 showed, Dr, Protacio said.

       It is much easier to gain GAP certification with smaller trees cultivated under a high density planting system. Potential yields are also higher, he noted.

        “Grafting should be done at the lowest height possible so that branching will start at a lower point than usual,” he explained as he credited Vir Loquias for developing the new low bark grafting method.

        Scions can be induced to branch, he added, and pruning for a well-formed canopy can be done quickly under a system of smaller planting distances.

        Existing orchards maintain the 10m by 10 m planting distance, compared to the Amrapali system at 2.5m by 2.5m with 1,600 plants per hectare recommended.

        For Dasheri, a distance of 4m by 4 m is suggested while the Jain Irrigation Systems’ large scale high density planting (HDP) calling for 490 plants at 6m by 4.5m.At Jamnagar Reliance’s HDP of 102,000 trees, the distance is 5m by 3m and 6m by 2m spacing.

        New plantations adopting HDP are planting trees at 6m by 4m, 5m by 5m, 5m by 3m and 6m by 2m spacing. (iFARM)

 

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February 28, 2009

Expert urges planting of smaller but more productive mango trees

 

DAVAO CITY ---- Dr. Calixto M. Protacio, a leading plant breeder, has urged government to lead in the massive cultivation of smaller but more productive mango trees to raise yields and improve the country’s share in the expanding export market.

            Dr. Protacio made the proposal when he delivered the David H. Murdock/Dole Asia professorial chair lecture on February 25 in a forum organized by the Initiative for Farm Advocacy and Resource Management (IFARM) and Croplife Philippines at the campus of University of the Philippines-Mindanao (UP-Min) here.

            He stressed that reforming the mango industry is needed now to maintain the country’s position as the world’s second biggest mango exporter and possibly eat into the lead of Mexico .

            Dr. Protacio explained that big mango trees are harder to manage and large plantations require more workers during harvest time.

            Scientific advances also make it possible for more small fruit-bearing trees to occupy each hectare of land, he added, and the increase in yield will naturally skyrocket, he argued.

            No less than 90 percent of the country’s mango exports are in the form of fresh fruits. The Philippines enjoys a 65 percent market share in Hong Kong and controls 24 percent of the Japan market, he added. The mango expert said South Korea is starting to become a major market like the United States .

            A survey conducted by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) in 2007 showed that a total of 184,174 hectares of land are devoted to mango production. There are a total of 8,115,899 fruit-bearing mango trees all over the country.

            Output-wise, the Philippines harvests an average of 913,000 metric tons of the fruit, which makes it the eighth biggest player in the global market.

            Only six percent of the total output is exported, Dr. Protacio revealed, and the country must increase its share of the export market by raising production and achieve inclusion in the list of countries that conform with the standards of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), which is required if the Philippines wants to penetrate the big European Union (EU) market.

            He noted the mango production system in the country is largely “parochial and is thus limited in range and scope.”

            Dr. Protacio said the Philippines can cash in on smaller mango trees inasmuch as Thailand stopped its mango production from smaller mango trees two decades ago.

            The expert stressed that big trees have canopy diameters of up to 20 meters and grow up to a height of buildings four storeys high.

             Following current practice of planting a mango tree in a 20m by 20m square, only a total of 25 trees can be accommodated in one hectare, with the yield ranging from 400 kilos to 1,000 kilos per hectare.

             Dr. Protacio also doubted the range of average mango yield from six to 10 tons per hectare, saying “it is probably an overestimate.”

             He stressed that workers risk injury when climbing trees to harvest the fruit and spray the leaves with pesticides and nematicides.(iFARM)

 

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February 27, 2009

UP-Mindano forum promotes good agricultural practices (GAP)

Experts tackle issues associated with aerial spraying of Davao banana plantations

 

     SCIENTISTS took center stage last week in a forum at the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) of the University of the Philippines-Mindanao (UP-Min) in Mintal, Davao City and discussed the future of a science-based Philippine agriculture.

     The forum, entitled “Making Science Work for Us,” was held on February 25 during CSM Week, which was celebrated as part of the UP-Min’s 14^th foundation anniversary.

     The lecture-forum featured, among others, a relaunch of UP Min’s Dr. Eufemio T. Rasco Jr.’s “The Unfolding Gene Revolution,” the Outstanding Book Awardee of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) for 2008.

     Attended by hundreds of students, faculty members, professionals and farmers, the lecture-forum was sponsored by CropLife Philippines and conducted by Initiative for Farm Advocacy and Resource Management (IFARM), a newly-organized non-government organization (NGO) promoting science-based agriculture.

     Experts also discussed the issue of aerial spraying in large banana plantations in the Davao provinces and stressed the solutions used can be applied scientifically and diluted to such an extent that it can be harmless to human like over the counter (OTC) medicines.  

     Moreover, the solution used is effective in ridding the fruits of pests and viruses that have become the bane of Filipino banana exporters.

     IFARM (www.ifarmpinas.com) is promoting the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in the farms as a mode of self-regulation and responsible profitability towards sustainable agriculture and the active protection of the environment.  

     CropLIfe Philippines is the local counterpart association of the global crop protection industry that is currently promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) among its members.

     With its current thrust of “more food on less land,” CropLife is embarking on disseminating plant science technology to help the local farmers achieve production targets even while promoting GAP and the proper use of farm inputs to ensure that all production is safe for the consuming public and not harmful to the environment.

     Starting off with a presentation on “Towards a GAP-compliant Mango Production,” Dr. Calixto Protacio, professor of horticulture of UP Los Banos and chairman of IFARM, outlined his technical findings on mango production that revolved around the cultivation of smaller trees and continuous pruning to encourage fruit-bearing and more productive harvests.

     Dr. Renato Labadan, a Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) awardee like Dr. Rasco and author of the 2006 National Book Award of the Manila Critics’ Circle and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for his book “Coconut – The Philippine Money Tree,” enlightened the participants on the new high-value products that may be produced from the coconut such as coconut sugar, honey, toddy and others.

     Dr. Dario Sabularse, deputy executive director of the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), the regulatory agency for the crop protection and enhancement industry, outlined the regulatory regimen enforced by the FPA on the local production and marketing of farm inputs. 

     Dr. Sabularse dwelled on the science and procedures the FPA implements to ensure that all agricultural products are safe and nutritious for the consuming market, emphasizing that all products that have been found to be harmful have actually been banned from local use.

     Thus, the consuming public has no need to worry or be alarmed.  

     Nevertheless, he invited the public to report any abuse or misuse of such farm inputs, reporting himself that the FPA on its own conducts tests periodically and have found no infractions of any magnitude that should cause public concern.

     On account of the questions arising from the aerial spraying of banana plantations in the Davao area, Dr. Emily Fabregar, head of the Technical Committee of the PBGEA, was asked to elucidate to the audience the new GPS and intelligent spray control technologies that the plantations are implementing.

     Dr. Fabregar said with these new technologies being used in farms, all members of the population are benefiting from their proper and responsible use, ensuring that only adequate amounts and mixtures are sprayed on bananas.

     These mixtures are as harmless as any above-the-counter medications currently available for unrestricted public use, she added.

     The forum was capped off by Dr. Rasco’s presentation of his award-winning book “The Unfolding Gene Revolution.”

     Using layman’s terms and spiced with humor, the book shows how the new science of biotechnology was developed and how its findings are helping in the quest for adequate production to feed the growing population.

     In a broader sense, Dr. Rasco's book seeks to dispel the apprehensions about new scientific technologies that have been spawned by misunderstandin and, unfortunately, misinformation.  The book engages the public in alight and entertaining though deeply thoughtful manner on an appreciation of the new technologies based on scientific facts.

     In closing, Sim Cuyson, executive director of CropLife Philippines, outlined his association’s commitment to continue the dialogue between science and the general public so as to allay fears about the use of “risky” farm inputs.

     Cuyson said his group is now working to correct the wrong information being peddled to justify the ban on aerial spraying.

     What is important is for farmers and consumers to know more about the scientific methods of spraying to prevent the spread of plant diseases.

     CropLife said it is ready to help in disseminating scientific information to correct the impression of some people about the need to ban aerial spraying. (iFARM)

 

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